How to Kill Your Family

Over the course of the text, Grace’s rage cools, and her changing feelings regarding the murders she commits convey just how unsatisfying revenge is, even when a person’s sense of righteousness and justice never wavers.

While Grace is “emboldened by” the murders of Jeremy and Kathleen, her successive murders of Artemis family members are less fulfilling. She says, “I didn’t much want to kill Andrew Artemis. It had to be done, of course […], but I wasn’t prepared for one of them to be so, well, nice” (61). Afterward, her sadness and regret contrast with the satisfaction she expected. It doesn’t feel good to kill someone so “nice,” therefore Grace tells herself Andrew likely would have returned to the family fold eventually. Then, while she plots Lee’s death, Grace grows “bored of waiting around for these people to get in line with [her] plans” (145). Rather than feeling energized by her progress toward avenging her mother, Grace feels more like she’s checking items off a list. Once Grace has Lee hanging by the neck at Mile End, she says, “I think for a second about telling him who I am, but I can’t be bothered. I’ve never cared about Lee” (153).